


Glimpses

by lachoy



Series: Inked [6]
Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-22
Updated: 2015-01-22
Packaged: 2018-03-08 16:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3215993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lachoy/pseuds/lachoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neku owns a tattoo shop and it's been two years, but Joshua still complains about it every time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Glimpses

“It's permanent.”

“So? My love's permanent, man.”

A sigh. Neku can't believe this is the tenth idiot today that wants to have some name written on him. Though every time someone wants a name inked for a reason like this, Neku finds himself extremely bothered by the idea. A certain prickly air always stirring around him for the rest of the day. “You'll be seventy and still have a name on you. Are you sure about this?”

“Listen, you want my money or not? I came here for a tattoo, not some damn lecture. What do you know about love?”

Neku gives the flattest look he can muster, his displeasure evident in his blue eyes as he shrugs. “Fine. Your skin, not mine.” He says the cost and he's just thankful a tattoo like this doesn't take long. He can get this moron in and out.

He's been doing this tattoo thing for two years now and Neku likes his job. Really, he could do without the stupid lovestruck people who think having some name inked on you is a good idea because nine times out of ten Neku was going to guess that the love wouldn't last. Optimism still wasn't his forte. However, he met a lot of interesting people. Neku had come to learn tattoos had stories, even ones that people got when they were drunk. It was impossible to understand people, but Neku liked these glimpses he was given. From the man with a photo of his dead daughter to one person who wanted a picture from their favorite video game tattooed on their arm. It was interesting.

Nobody had expected him to do this and Neku hadn't expected it of himself either. It wasn't until he saw some documentary about tattoos, heard what they meant to people, that he thought maybe this was what he wanted. A way for people to express themselves and see it for himself, like a window into their secret garden.

As Neku finishes the job, 'Erika' (the name he had been inking on the man) walks in. Young, pretty, and completely shocked. 

“Don't tell me this was my gift?” She doesn't sound happy.

Neku thought he was doing a good job at hiding his smirk and playing as if he didn't see the fight about to happen between the two.

“Honey, I thought you'd find it romantic!”

“Um, flowers are romantic. What am I supposed to do with my name on your arm?”

It's tempting to put in some sale, ask her if she wants a two for one deal so she can have his name. But he's a little better at customer service than that. Instead he stays quiet and let's the two argue, taking a certain sick pleasure in the guy who had vaguely insulted him. Neku didn't consider himself a petty person, but that man had really aggravated him.

When they leave, Neku giving the most sarcastically cheerful smile possible, he feels Joshua appear before he hears him. At one point, it used to freak him out. There had been countless times of Joshua scaring him, causing him to scream, and Neku's fairly sure that's why Joshua continued to just magically pop out of thin air. Unfortunately for him, Neku had gotten used to it. A slight victory in this never ending battle of theirs.

“Oh, dear. Young love is such a tricky thing,” he sighs and Neku can't see him, but he can imagine him flipping his hair. Neku would bet the entire store he is. It's almost disturbing how well he has gotten to know the other.

Neku doesn't bother to turn to acknowledge the other as he just cleans up his work space. “You need to stop doing that. What if someone saw you just magically appear like that?”

“Please. I'm not an amateur.” Joshua sounds so affronted it's almost funny. He takes a sniff and it's when Neku turns around does he see the other's nose wrinkle. “I still don't like the smell of this place. It smells...diseased.”

“My shop isn't diseased,” Neku growls, definitely offended at that even if he knows Joshua is just saying it to be a bastard because he's Joshua. “You smell disinfectant.”

“Exactly. It smells diseased. What do you think disinfectant is used for?” He just has to have the last word. Always.

“Then don't come here anymore. Not a problem to me.”

“That wouldn't do. You'd miss me.”

Neku lets out a bark of laughter as he finishes up, everything back in order and neat. “Yeah, miss the biggest pain in my ass. Right.” Joshua doesn't say anything, just gives him a knowing smile and Neku feels like he may have just walked into some joke. “You wish,” he mutters.

“Oh, I do,” Joshua agrees and then giggles, sitting down in a chair. “Though maybe I should have your name written on me. What do you think?”

He's joking. Neku knows that because he's sure Joshua can change his appearance. It's why he looks twentysomething to match Neku's twentysomething even though he's much older than that, it's why his hair is just a little longer than it was a week ago, and sometimes Neku's sure Joshua's eyes are not the same two colors in a week. Not that he pays that close attention to the other. He's an artist and an artist picks up on things like that. 

“Put your own name on yourself. It should be the one you love most, right?”

“Now that just hurts. I love you plenty more than I love myself. Why, look at me now. Taking time from my busy schedule to visit you so you aren't lonely.”

“It's not a game week,” Neku points out, crossing his arms as he meets the other's eyes. “What busy schedule? You just come over here so I can entertain you.”

“And you're doing a wonderful job.”

Neku can't even bother to argue, just gives the other a glare before moving on. Sometimes he'll argue with Joshua because he stands a chance, but there are other times where it's a pointless battle because Joshua is an asshole and he could argue the same argument for weeks all while sticking needles in all of Neku's sensitive spots. Neku's stopped caring so much about beating Joshua every time because he isn't a complete masochist here. He'll get his vengeance later. “Give me a moment to close up.” He still has fifteen minutes left before he needs to officially close his shop, but even if he did have another customer there was no way he could do anything in fifteen minutes. Better to just close up now and save time and it has nothing to do with Joshua visiting.

His relationship with Joshua is Something. There could be a label for it, but Neku thinks both of them don't really want one. Joshua because he's probably scared of one (he's scared of a lot, Neku's learned over the years) and Neku because he'd rather not think about the details of having a label with some god-like entity who shot him to death. Twice.

His life is a little fucked up.

There's no way to really even know how anything began. Joshua showed up, Neku ignored him for a few days. Joshua tried again, Neku ended up screaming for close to an hour (and Joshua had just looked bored with a “Are you quite done yet?”). Then they chatted, then there would be conversations lasting for hours, and then laughter. Teasing, inside jokes, and smiles. And then one day there were kisses, names being moaned, and Neku remembered grabbing onto Joshua so tight like he was afraid the other would become the ghost he actually was.

Joshua was his friend and that was about it for labels. There were times Joshua treated him so indifferently that Neku had ended up venting his frustrations to Mr. Hanekoma who had just smiled and said: “You mean a lot to him. Sometimes that can be a mighty terrifying thing even to an all-powerful Composer.”

There were days that Neku chanted that like a mantra to himself. He meant something to Joshua and Neku trusted in that. Years later, he stilled trusted this asshole who had shot him in the damn face.

Maybe he was an idiot.

“I still think you're wasting your potential,” Joshua says after Neku locks the door and they make their way to their favorite restaurant. Ramen Don, predictably. “You have talent, raw and unrefined, but talent.”

“You just can't even give me a straight compliment ever, can you?”

“You're the next Da Vinci, the next Picasso.”

“Screw you.” He sees Joshua open his mouth, ready for some immature comment and Neku sighs. “No. Just don't. How old are you anyway? Shouldn't jokes eleven year olds make start to get old?”

“I'm young at heart.”

“So is that why you still play Tin Pin Slammer and watch stupid kids' cartoons?”

“Just because they're for kids it doesn't make them dumb. The story lines and characters are really moving and relatable.” Joshua is actually irritated for that comment and Neku just smirks, taking this as one small victory. You have to take them where you can get them. Especially with Joshua.

Neku changes the subject. “You tell me every time I'm wasting my potential, but it's my potential and I'll do what I want with it.”

“Did I ever tell you what I love most about you is your wild boy tendencies?”

“Did I ever tell you that your sarcasm makes me want to punch you in the face?”

“Every day, actually!” Joshua chirps and opens the door to Ramen Don. Ken welcomes them as always and after pleasantries are made and orders are given, they sit down and Joshua continues his earlier conversation. “But really. Tattoos?”

Neku shrugs, taking a sip of his water. “A good way to express yourself. I like helping with that. Shouldn't you be more supportive of that, oh great Composer of Shibuya?” Nobody's listening and he's quiet as he says that. While he isn't sure of the rules, Neku is certain nobody can know about who Joshua really is. Or maybe if they did hear him, they'd think it was some big joke. Either way.

“Have you ever seen an infected area after it's been tattooed?”

“Uh, duh? I work with it.”

“Why? It's so...disgusting.”

“There's parts to every job that aren't so glamorous, but I still like my shop, I still like what I do every day, and isn't that better than being a slave to some desk?” Joshua gives him a look like he can't disagree so Neku continues. “Remember what you told me about secret gardens? How we all have one? Tattoos kind of let me see someone's garden. You're right, we can't ever understand some people because it is impossible. But I kind of get people a little better like this when they're in my shop. You can tell me I'm wasting whatever potential you think I have, but I don't give a crap. I'm happy. That's what matters.”

Joshua is giving Neku one of those Looks. Those looks that show he really is a lot older than he appears and it makes Neku feel like a dumb child up against a much wiser adult. Except Joshua is not wise and he's just some stupid asshole who happens to be Composer. But when Joshua looks at him like that, Neku feels his heart freeze and he can truly believe in all his heart that he might just mean the whole world to Joshua.

“Bravo,” Joshua murmurs, chuckling lowly to himself. “You win this round. Just as expected from one Neku Sakuraba.”

“You say that like just being me is a good enough reason to win,” Neku points out, a little defensively because when Joshua gets like this, Neku half expects him to stand up and point at his face and start hysterically laughing. Again, Joshua is an asshole. 

“Mm,” Joshua says, neither agreeing or disagreeing and that speaks more to Neku than if he had said anything.

It's small moments like these that Neku doesn't need a tattoo to have a window into Joshua's soul, to see who he really is and maybe he's an idiot. Being in a something with no labels with a guy like Joshua.

But hey, he's just Neku Sakuraba who doesn't know a thing about love, a tattoo parlor in need of a new chair badly, and a delicious bowl of ramen with the biggest jerk in the universe.

**Author's Note:**

> I think there will probably be more to this universe. Such as the first time Neku and Joshua Did Things and etc. Also more about his relationship with other people because why not?


End file.
